Breaking Down the Walls that Loneliness Built
by gothraven89
Summary: Clark is back, but Bruce can tell that something is off with Man of Steel. He isn't considered the World Greatest Detective for nothing so he starts to investigate and figures out that Clark's got his walls up and it has everything to do with what happened between them. Bruce decides to confront Clark head on, leading to one very interesting night. WARNING SLASH.


Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to either Batman, Superman, or anything else within the DC universe, it is all owned by DC Comics, the creators, Warner Bros. and what have you. Not making any profit, just writing for enjoyment.

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Warning: Strong Sexual Content. Apologies if anyone seems out of character.

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Breaking Down the Walls that Loneliness Built

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The moon was bright and full over the city of Gotham, the skies clear and the stars twinkling. It was a beautiful sight for sure, and there were many to admire it. However, for one solitary figure standing on the ledge of a towering old building with ferocious looking gargoyles situated along the battlements, the beauty of the night skies was not his main focus.

From where he stood with his long, flowing black cape lightly floating in the wind, Batman had his dark eyes trained up at the skies, towards the flying figure fast approaching him from across the bay, and the illuminated city that stood many miles across the water. Behind his ever frowning cowl, Bruce Wayne allowed himself a moment to simply admire the extraordinary being who was flying through the bay towards him.

Superman, with his dark blue suit and striking red cape billowing behind him as he soared through the air.

Bruce kept his features as impassive and stern as ever behind his mask, but inside he felt a thrill of excitement and perhaps even slight awe at the sight of the other man.

Yes, the _man_ , not alien.

There were times when Bruce could hardly believe that Superman was here, among the living once more after a full year buried in the cold dark Earth. Superman... Clark, had made his miraculous return about four months ago, when Bruce had received a frantic call from Martha late one night and heard the impossible from her.

Martha had frantically explained that she had been woken up by a knock on her front door, and when she had answered it, she had found the son she had buried beside her husband standing on the other side, covered from head to toe in dirt and with the suit he had been buried in torn and frayed. Bruce had taken his private jet straight to Smallville with Alfred in tow and seen for himself a freshly showered, yet totally dazed Clark Kent alive and sitting on the well worn sofa in his childhood living room with Hank the dog resting his head on the Kryptonian's knee.

Bruce blinked, and returned to the present and Superman gracefully descended from the air and hovered in front of him.

" Superman." Bruce greeted with his signature growl.

" Batman." Clark greeted in return with a fleeting smile.

The pair regarded each other for several long second. Bruce took in that Clark's features, while handsome, had this edge of bone-deep weariness and sadness lurking just beneath the surface. Clark for his part did not need to use his x-ray vision to see that Bruce was frowning at him beneath the cowl, that the older man was scrutinizing him. It took everything Clark had not to squirm like a child caught doing something he shouldn't have been. Instead, Clark broke the silence between them.

" That human trafficking ring you told me about, are we taking them down or what?" He asked with his cape billowing around him.

" Yeah, based on my surveillance, something big is about to go down at the piers. I figured some otherworldly backup might be useful." Bruce replied.

He knew that not even death had dulled Clark's sharp mind, and that the Kryptonian, an investigative journalist by choice, would be instantly suspicious of Batman's request for backup. Bruce gave no outward appearance of anything being amiss. Clark for his part, gave the barest quirk of one dark brow before he nodded and spoke.

" When's it going down?" He asked, a spark of anticipation in his clear blue eyes.

" In about twenty minutes." Bruce replied casually.

The smirk that slowly spread across Clark's face almost had Bruce smiling with him.

 _About an hour later..._

The old Gotham pier was alight with activity as an veritable army of GCPD officers converged upon the scene. It was a sight to behold, a large group of men were all tied up and strung up high on the various cranes in the yard, all of them sporting some spectacular signs of the pummeling they had received, while down below, several large metal shipping containers lay quite literally torn open with scared young men, women, and children piling out of them by the dozens and into the helping hands of the police.

From high above on a nearby building, two caped figures stood side by side, watching the happenings down below. Bruce watched on with his mouth set in his signature grim line. He had been the one to dispatch of the human traffickers, smashing faces and breaking bones. He had sent Clark to free the victims, to which the Kryptonian had only put up a mild protest. Once Bruce had finished his part in incapacitating and tying up the bad guys, Clark had joined him and done the stringing up on the cranes, making sure they were all safely secured to the metal rigs before he and Bruce had made their stealthy exit.

As they stood side by side, watching the culmination of their joint effort, the tension from before returned as Clark spoke.

" Why did you really call me here Bruce?" He asked quietly as he turned his gaze to the Dark Knight.

Bruce turned away and met those striking blue eyes. There was a moment of tense silence before Bruce seemed to deflate a little as he shook his head and spoke.

" There are some things I'd like to talk to you about, would you come back to my place?" He asked.

Clark blinked at the request, mild surprise ghosting over his features before he schooled them and then nodded in agreement to the request. Feeling relieved that Clark said yes, but also feeling a bit apprehensive about what he planned to do once they got back to the Bat Cave, Bruce kept his features as unreadable as ever as he pulled out his grappling hook and shot it towards and nearby building. A few minutes later he was swinging through the air with Superman effortlessly gliding beside him.

Once he reached the Bat mobile, Bruce took off through the streets of Gotham out of the city with Superman following from up above. Within the span of maybe ten to fifteen minutes they were at the outskirts of the city. Superman dove in alongside the Bat mobile when the powerful vehicle shot off the dirt road and into the waiting mouth of the hidden tunnel within the lake. Flying low, Clark followed Bruce into the illuminated Bat Cave.

As Bruce pulled the Bat mobile into its alcove, Clark gracefully touched down onto the floor beside the legendary vehicle.

" Well, this is a welcome surprise, welcome back to Gotham Master Clark." Came a familiar British voice.

" Hello Alfred." Clark greeted with a genuine smile as Bruce's butler and confidant came into view.

" Alfred." Bruce said without his signature growl as he pushed open the overhead door to the Bat mobile and nimbly jumped out.

" Master Bruce." Alfred acknowledged.

The British gentlemen and Bruce shared a subtle look before Alfred all but swept Clark away with him up the stairs to the main house. The sight of the gray haired gentleman all but pulling the Earth's most powerful being up the steps with him, regaling Clark about what he had cooked up for them as he went would have had Bruce chuckling were he not thinking about why he had asked Clark to come here. With the many ways this could all go spectacularly wrong playing out in his mind, Bruce headed further into the cave to quickly change out of the bat suit. He emerged a few moments later dressed casually in a black Henley shirt with the sleeves rolled up and dark blue jeans.

Bruce padded up the stairs quickly to reach the secret door behind the bookshelf, his dark eyes lingering for a moment on Robin's suit that hung in the display case, slipping through it into the lake house's living room. He took a few steps into the living room and then paused when his eyes fell on the kitchen area that stood off to the side. Clark was sitting at the kitchen island in his full uniform, with his striking red cape flowing from his well-built shoulders. The Kryptonian was smiling warmly at Alfred and listening with rapt attention as the older gentlemen no doubt regaled him with a story of Bruce in is misspent youth. Alfred placed what appeared to be a hot mug of either tea or coffee in front of Metropolis' triumphantly returned hero and Bruce watched on silently as said hero picked up the steaming hot mug and took a sip without any care that it would have scalded a normal person severely. Through his observation, Bruce took note of how clark seemed to almost subtly revel in the heat the drink provided before turning his attention back to Alfred.

Bruce could have stood there and stared at Clark for the rest of the night, but instead he forced his feet to move and made his way across the house to join Alfred and Clark. When Bruce sat down beside Clark, he met Clark's blue eyed gaze unflinchingly when the younger man sent him a knowing look. Alfred for his part did not miss a beat as he turned away from the pair to get the dinner he had prepared plated and ready.

A few moments later found the three of them sitting at the kitchen island, each enjoying a plate of roast beef with pasta and roast vegetables. It was not lost on either Alfred of Bruce how much Clark was savoring the home cooked meal, while also with a hint of sadness across his handsome features. Bruce felt his anticipation growing in his gut as the meal wound down, Clark taking care of the dishes in the span of mere seconds before Alfred or Bruce could protest. The mortals were in awe of the small yet telling display of power.

" Thank you for enjoying dinner Master Clark, the hour is late so I shall take my leave of you both." Alfred said before he turned to Bruce and sent him a pointed look.

" Master Bruce." He said simply.

" Alfred." Bruce said with a nod while Clark waved.

With that, the older gentleman took his leave for the evening, heading to the separate guest house and leaving Bruce alone with his guest.

Now that Alfred was gone, Bruce and Clark stood in front of one of the glass walls overlooking the serene lake, the tension so thick it was almost corporeal unto itself. For what seemed a lifetime there was only this silence, and then Clark finally spoke without actually turning to look at Bruce.

" Again, why did you ask me here?" He asked softly.

Bruce took a deep breath and spoke without taking his eyes off the water either.

" I asked you here because I know something's wrong and I want to know what's going on with you." Bruce said firmly.

Clark jerked at that and finally turned to face Bruce directly.

" What do you mean Bruce? Why would there be anything wrong?" He asked incredulously.

Bruce sighed and turned to face Clark as well as he spoke.

" I've been keeping up with the news feeds, watching you since you got back to being Superman. Good on you for stopping that Tsunami in the Maldives last week by the way." Bruce said with a small quirk of his lips.

Clark let out a small huff despite himself before he sobered quickly and waited for Bruce to continue.

" Part of my being Batman is to be as observant as possible. When I was watching you on the news feeds, at first I thought that you were alright too, you looked healthy and you were back helping people out of some pretty serious situations, but then on one particular occasion I watched you save a little boy from a building that was falling during an earthquake in Peru, you shielded him with your body and then punched through the concrete like it was nothing. It was when you were handing the kid back to his father that I saw it." Bruce explained.

" Saw what?" Clark asked with a confused look on his face.

Bruce took a step forward, closing the distance before he replied.

" When you were handing the child back to his parents, the boy's father reached out to you and I saw you flinch before you accepted the man's hug, looking uncomfortable as Hell. I didn't think anything of it at first, until I started reviewing the footage from some of your other rescues since you got back. Every single time anyone reaches out to touch you, you react like that, like they're going to hurt you." Bruce said with surety.

He watched grimly as Clark's eyes widened for a moment, before they shuttered violently as he spoke.

" You must be seeing things because I'm perfectly alright, there is nothing wrong." Clark said vehemently as he crossed his arms over his chest.

" Is that so?" Bruce said before he suddenly lunged forward with his hand raised.

Bruce watched with something inside him cracking as Clark's eyes widened in quiet terror and leapt back a step with a gasp, his own hands raised in a defensive stance before he could stop himself. There was a haunted quality to Clark's features as he gaped at Bruce, no doubt remembering what had happened between them more than a year ago, on a rain-filled night where hate and violence had clouded over all rationality.

" Damn it Bruce, what the Hell are you playing at?" Clark hissed when he had composed himself. He stepped forward and got right into Bruce's face.

Bruce for his part stood his ground and met Clark's angry gaze head on as he spoke.

" You've been isolating yourself, ever since you clawed your way out of your own grave, you've put up a wall between yourself and the people you have dedicated yourself to protecting, and while I can take a guess as to why, I want to hear it from you." Bruce said firmly.

Bruce watched as Clark's eyes shuttered further as the Kryptonian shook his head.

" There is nothing to say, I'm fine Bruce. Thank you for your concern, but I'm done talking." Clark said without really meeting Bruce's gaze before he stepped away and started for the door.

" Clark please, just stay and talk to me." Bruce said with a sigh.

The weariness Clark could hear in Bruce's voice stopped him in his tracks. He slowly turned around to see Bruce slowly making his way towards him, seeming to telegraph his movements this time instead of lunging at him as he had done before as he spoke.

" I'm worried about you, and it's not just me." Bruce said as he came to stand at arm's length.

It only took Clark a second to figure out what Bruce meant.

" My mother put you up to this, didn't she?" He asked flatly.

He watched as Bruce's lips curled up despite himself before the older man shook his head.

" No Clark, she didn't ask me to lure you here and get you to spill your inner most thoughts, that's all me. She did call me a few days ago telling me how you haven't been by to see her in weeks, and that when she does get you on the phone you sound off, distant even. She's your mom Clark, she worries and... so do I." Bruce said as he reached up and scratched the back of his head, feeling a tiny bit embarrassed at the admission.

Clark stared at Bruce with defiance in his eyes, and then he seemed to deflate a little.

" I'll call her I promise, but I am telling you, there's nothing wrong Bruce." Clark insisted.

Bruce tilted his head and regarded Clark for a moment before he spoke.

" Where's Lois?" He asked.

Clark felt his heart give a dull twinge at the mention of the woman who had been his everything. With a sigh, Clark shook his head and crossed his arms again as he spoke.

" She's off in Croatia on assignment, something about a political scandal being covered up. We aren't together anymore and I was never her keeper Bruce."

" I'm sorry to hear that." Bruce said sincerely.

" Thanks, and don't be. I was gone for a while, she had every right to move on." Clark said without really taking his eyes off the floor.

" You have a right to move on too, only you haven't, have you?" Bruce said knowingly as he started to slowly advance toward's Clark.

" I don't know what you're taking about." Clark said firmly, all the while unconsciously starting to back away from Bruce's approach.

" Yes you do." Bruce said bluntly as he quickened his pace a bit and wordlessly herded Clark towards the far wall and away from the exit.

Clark kept backing up until his movements were finally halted when his back lightly collided with said wall. Bruce knew the other man could easily just send him flying with the flick of his finger but still he pressed forward, willing to risk that if it meant he could get through to Clark.

" B-Bruce don't..." Clark began, a warning look on his face when Bruce came to a stop just a few inches from him and cut him off.

" You probably went your whole life being indestructible, not having to worry about either breaking bones or bleeding to death. Then along comes a glowing green rock that can destroy you on a cellular level and a mad man pissed off enough to want to see you ended by it." It was here that Bruce's face twisted into an self-disgusted smile as he continued.

" And said mad man found the perfect idiot to manipulate into doing his dirty work for him."

Clark inhaled sharply and stared wide-eyed at Bruce, his entire face open in confusion as Bruce pressed on.

" I beat you seven ways to Hell. You've never ever felt that kind of pain before, have you?" Bruce asked softly.

Clark forced himself to meet Bruce's intense, laser-focused gaze as he slowly shook his head and spoke.

" No." He whispered, his throat constricting painfully as the memories of bright poisonous gas and Bruce's unforgiving fists danced across his vision despite his attempts to hold the nightmarish images at bay.

Bruce took a deep breath and then leaned in a little closer till his and Clark's faces were mere inches apart, facing off once again, like they had done that awful, stormy night as the older man spoke.

" I unleashed all of my rage and hate on you. I treated you like dirt just like the rest of the world did and I terrorized you." Bruce said, his carefully neutral expression crumbling into a look of such sadness and self-loathing, Clark actually felt something inside him give a wrenching lurch.

" I terrorized you, and now... now you're terrified of all of us." Bruce finished softly.

Clark felt the bottom drop out of his stomach at Bruce's words, not only because they were impactful, but because they were the truth, plain and painfully simple. Bruce clenched his fists as he watched Clark avert his gaze and stay pointedly silent rather than contradict Bruce's statement. There was a beat of charged silence before Clark spoke.

" That doesn't mean I am going to stop helping where I can, so you don't have to worry about me Bruce." He said steadily without looking up.

" You don't owe it to any of us to do that Clark." Bruce said quietly, watching as Clark's lips quirked up in a fleeting smile as he spoke.

" That's what Ma says." He said.

" Well Martha Kent is a Hell of a smart lady, we both know that." Bruce said with a small smile of his own.

He grew sober very quickly though as he regarded how utterly miserable the young man standing across from him looked. Feeling sadness grip him once more, Bruce spoke.

" You can't go on like this Clark, it'll keep eating at you until you won't be able to recognize yourself anymore, believe me, I know."

At these words, Clark let out a humorless bark of laugher and shook his head as he finally looked up at Bruce with quietly anguished, over-bright eyes.

" I already don't recognize myself anymore Bruce." Clark confessed softly.

Bruce felt his heart give another painful squeeze before he slowly, carefully reached out towards the Kryptonian.

Clark saw Bruce's hand steadily coming towards him and unconsciously pressed himself closer to the wall at his back, his clear blue eyes watching Bruce warily. He scarcely breathed, and then froze all together when the other man's fingertips made contact with his face. Clark watched on, stunned as Bruce lightly grazed his fingertips downward over his cheekbone.

With a small jolt, Clark realized that this was the same cheek Bruce had cut into with the spear that night, once he had pinned him down. As he took in the older man, Clark could see only deep, true regret over his face as he spoke.

" We don't often get many second chances in this life, believe me I know. In the year since you were buried, not a day went by where I didn't feel ashamed for the part I played in Lex's twisted game. Yeah, he manipulated us both, but I made it easy for him since I was already blaming you for things that weren't your fault. You didn't mean for what happened with Zod to happen, and everyone we lost is because of Zod, not you. I get that now, but way too late. I hurt you, I hurt you so much and yet the moment you saw me when me and Alfred came to you mom's house that night, you just smiled at me and said 'Hi Bruce'. You just forgave me without me even asking, just like your mom did after I came clean to her about my role in the entire mess."

Clark felt his eyes start to burn at Bruce's softly spoken words, but he stoically kept his composure as he spoke.

" I misjudged you too, thought you were this brutish criminal who didn't care who got hurt, and meeting the wife of the guy that got killed in prison just made me think even worse about you. I know now how wrong I was, that you do the same thing I do, just keeping your city and the world at large safe. But Bruce, you don't owe me anything either. I can take care of myself, it's not your job to look after me and-"

Whatever else Clark was about to say was abruptly cut off as Bruce spoke over him.

" I'm making it my job whether you like it or not." He said, his tone leaving no room for argument as he pinned Clark with a stern look.

Clark gaped at Bruce for a moment, a part of him deeply touched by the other man's declaration, but also feeling a slight bit embarrassed. He was a grown man, he could look after himself... even if he hadn't been doing such a good job of it lately if Bruce's actions and concern were anything to go by.

It was then that Clark noticed just how close they were standing, how Bruce was looming over him. The man was just a couple of inches taller than him, yet he seemed to tower over him at times. Feeling something hot uncurl in the pit of his stomach, Clark lightly cleared his throat and spoke.

" It's late, I-I should get going." He said, not really looking at Bruce as he moved to step away from the wall and make his exit.

Instead, Clark found Bruce's arm blocking his path on either side. Once again, Clark did everything in his power not to flinch at the close proximity.

" No." Bruce said simply.

Clark was about to ask Bruce what the Hell he was playing at when he was stunned into silence as Bruce leaned in so close that they were nearly touching as he spoke, looking him dead in the eye.

" You've had nightmares, you're still having nightmares about everything, about what I did to you." Bruce said with absolute certainty.

Clark's stunned silence was all the confirmation he needed.

" In our line of work, you'll have plenty of things happen to you that will rob you of peace, but I'm not going to allow you to suffer one more sleepless night because of me." Bruce said quietly, but firmly.

Now it was Clark who smirked humorlessly as he finally pushed himself off the wall and stepped past Bruce, walking towards the clear wall of the house that overlooked the lake. He came to stand before the glass, his blue eyes fixed on the lake as he crossed his arms and spoke.

" What are you going to do about it Bruce, be my personal dreamcatcher or something?" He asked with full sarcasm, all the while feeling something quite battered and broken inside him crumble further.

At first there was only silence, and then Clark let out a loud, startled gasp as an arm came around him from behind and a hand pressed up against the center of his chest, pushing him backwards until his back was pressed up against a solid, warm chest. Clark let out a shaky breath but otherwise did not put up a struggle as Bruce held him in place. Clark could feel Bruce's warmth against his back, and to his utter amazement he didn't feel the urge to flinch as Bruce spoke into his ear.

" Maybe not literally, but what's robbing you of sleep and making you flinch away from human contact has everything to do with me. You're afraid of me on a subconscious level, so I have to show you that I won't hurt you like that again, that you're safe with me." Bruce explained quietly, all the while feeling a sense of elation at feeling Clark's chest moving up and down with breath beneath his palm, feeling the heart beating steadily beneath the "S" symbol emblazoned across his chest.

Clark took a deep breath and forced himself to relax a little as he spoke.

" So what, you're going to use the magical healing powers of your dick and voila, I am fixed?" Clark asked with a small eye roll.

He startled slightly when Bruce let out a deep, rumbling chuckle that vibrated through Clark's back as the older man spoke.

" Who knew Earth's extraterrestrial boy scout had such a mouth on him?" Bruce said, his voice a low rumble that made the hot feeling in Clark's gut intensify.

With a small sigh, Bruce shook his head as he spoke.

" I'm not planning to "heal you with my dick" as you so eloquently put it, but what I have in mind does involve a great deal of trust and intimacy." Then a sudden thought struck Bruce.

" By the way, how come you aren't having an epic heterosexual freakout because of the way I am currently holding you?" He asked casually.

Clark found himself genuinely smiling as he slowly turned around in Bruce's hold to face the billionaire. Bruce's arm came to rest on Clark's shoulder as the younger man spoke.

" Before I became a reporter, I drifted all over the place working odd jobs. At one point I was a Greenhorn on a crab fishing boat up in Alaska. It was an all man crew and we were out there for months. When I wasn't working hard and trying to keep my cover, there were a couple of times where things got interesting late at night below deck, and I've always been fluid about what I am attracted to anyway."

" You're a man of hidden depths Mr. Kent." Bruce said lightly, all the while feeling an irrational spike of jealousy course through him at the thought of Clark with other men.

Clark shrugged before his expression grew sad and he looked away as he spoke.

" Wish you had known that about me before you did your level best to kill me." He said quietly.

In that moment Bruce didn't see the mighty, almost mythological hero and protector of Earth, instead he just saw a young man who looked far too weary and had a deep seated hurt nearly radiating off of him in waves.

Bruce just wanted the ground to swallow him up because he knew full well that it was a hurt that he had personally caused. Regathering his own confidence, Bruce slowly and carefully reached out with his free hand. He barely bit back a grimace when Clark flinched lightly at his approach but kept going forward and gently cupped the side of Clark's neck. He did the same with the other side of Clark's neck and then spoke.

" Clark." He said, and then waited for the Kryptonian slowly look up at him. Once he and Clark were eye to eye, Bruce spoke.

" I am the one who terrorized you, so I should be the one to reassure you now." He said quietly, feeling an uncharacteristic nervousness spread through him.

It was funny, as Batman he could face off against some of the most terrifying villains known to man, like the Joker or Scarecrow, but here now, as just Bruce Wayne, it was taking everything in him to simply face the man he nearly murdered in his misguided rage and singular need to punish. Bruce held fast and didn't let go of Clark as the Kryptonian gazed at him in askance.

" How are you going to do that Bruce? I've tried everything I can think of and I've been this way for months." Clark said honestly.

Bruce nodded before he replied.

" We're going to get through this by getting you to know the man underneath the mask. Right now I'm not Batman, I am just Bruce." Then Bruce took a deep, steadying breath before he finished, drawing his hands away from Clark's neck and holding them open before the Kryptonian.

" And I am yours to do with as you please."

There was a beat of charged silence where Clark just gawked wide-eyed at Bruce before he finally spoke.

" W-What?" He asked.

" You heard me." Bruce said simply.

" Y-You're crazy, you're crazy! You are literally batshit cra-MMPH!" The rest of Clark's rant was effectively cut off when a pair of lips sealed themselves over his own in a searing hot kiss.

Clark stood there stunned, his every heightened sense nearly overwhelmed by the sensation of Bruce's lips against his own. It had been months, months since he had had this type of physical contact. Sure there had been hugs and kisses on the cheeks from people grateful to have been rescued, but this was the first time since he had come back from the dead that he had felt something so personal, so intimate. Before Clark could properly react, Bruce drew away with a light gasp.

The lake house was silent save for the sound of their loud breathing, Clark and Bruce facing each other at a stunned impasse once more. Clark stared at Bruce, seeing him, but also seeing Batman. This man was the playboy billionaire, and the terrifying vigilante, one and the same. This man was the one who had nearly succeeded in ending him, when all his life he had walked away from certain death situations without a single scratch on him. Now that same man had just kissed him, and had told him flat out that he could do whatever he wanted to him. Taking in a deep breath, Clark finally spoke, a hard resolve in his clear blue eyes.

" I don't use people like that Bruce, I won't do that, not even to you." Clark began when Bruce shook his head and held up his hand, silencing him.

" This isn't that. This is about you regaining control, and it starts with me giving up mine. Whatever we do tonight is going to be up to you and you alone. So the way I see it, you can face the issues you have with me or you can leave and continue as you are until your aversion leads to you hesitating long enough for someone to lose their lives." Bruce said sternly.

Clark stood silent, Bruce's words reverberating through him in a harsh cacophony, ringing with truth. With the way his body was reacting to any form of contact, a flinch at the wrong time could literally spell death and disaster for someone. Swallowing back his own nervousness, Clark met Bruce's intense gaze and gritted his teeth.

" Damn it." He hissed as he finally made his choice.

Bruce stood still as Clark barreled towards him, closing the distance and seizing him by the front of his shirt. He gave no resistance as Clark yanked him forward and then smashed his mouth over his. Bruce allowed himself a small thrill of silence before quickly banishing it and focusing on kissing Clark back. He tried to be as pliant as he could against Clark, giving up control as he had said he would, and just allowed himself to feel. Bruce groaned softly as Clark plundered his mouth, his every nerve ending alight as he felt the Kryptonian's well-built arms wrap around him tightly. They broke apart with a gasp several long moments later, and it was then that Bruce noticed that there was no longer a floor beneath his feet.

" Wha?" Bruce whispered before he looked down and saw that he and Clark were hovering a good foot off the floor.

" Oh wow." Bruce whispered with the ghost of a smile curving up his lips.

Clark gazed at Bruce and bit back his own smile. It made something in Clark do flip-flops, seeing the man who nearly murdered him now quietly marveling at one of his many extraordinary abilities. However, in an instant Clark felt his warmth replaced by hot, dull anger. He had been fighting tooth and nail all of these months to keep some kind of control, while feeling like he was spinning aimlessly. Now he was in this situation, this unexpected situation where the man who had savagely beaten him and nearly done worse had said that he was giving up all control.

With a low, rumbling growl Clark shot across the house. Bruce had enough time to let out a small gasp of surprise before he found himself flat on his back on his kingsize bed. After a moment of disorientation, Bruce lay still and gazed up to see Clark looming above him, hovering horizontally in the air and watching him with a singular focus. Bruce felt a thrill travel up the length of his spine at the way Clark was staring at him. Bruce had been on the receiving end of many predatory gazes in his life, both as the billionaire playboy some people thought they could take advantage of, or as a hearty meal for certain villains, like Killer Croc. None of those compared to the way Clark was gazing at him now.

Never had Bruce seen blue eyes so lurid and hungry, with a quite rage swirling just beneath the threadbare sheen of control. It was reminiscent of a Barracuda in the ocean, just floating still against the every present current, watching and waiting.

" Take off your shirt." Clark ordered, finally breaking the charged silence between them.

Bruce blinked and then nodded, slowly levering himself up into a sitting position and reaching for the hem of his black Henley shirt, with Clark still hovering over him. Bruce pulled the fabric over his head and tossed it to the floor by the bed, and then he startled lightly when there was suddenly a warm, solid hand on his shoulder, gently but firmly pressing him back down onto the bed. Again, Bruce gave no resistance as he lay back down, this eyes did widen as Clark came to straddle his hips. Feeling his mouth go dry and secretly reveling in the solidness of Clark's weight on him, Bruce watched as Clark's hard eyes wracked over his bare upper body, and the litany of scars that graced his skin. He watched as Clark let go of his shoulder and then grazed his fingertips over the chemical burn scar Bruce had over his left collarbone.

" How did this one happen?" Clark asked without taking his eyes off Bruce's scar.

" It's one of my firsts. Joker threw acid at me and it ate through my suit, learned to invest in more sturdier material." Bruce replied lightly.

Clark's hand then moved across to a circular scar that adorned Bruce's left pectoral.

" This one?" He asked.

" Bank robber, shot me at point blank range with a hollow point round that nearly got through the Kevlar, left me with a deep cut instead." Bruce answered, catching on quickly that Clark was exploring him, learning of his trials and tribulations as Batman through each scar he touched.

And so it went, Clark finding a scar and Bruce explaining the injury it was a remnant of. Bruce didn't know if he laid there for minutes or hours, but there was this pure sense of intoxication at being able to share the tapestry of scars on his skin with Clark and not have to lie about how he got them. No having to put up the farce of being just that clumsy, or that it was a spelunking trip gone bad, just the truth, the plain and simple truth.

Now Bruce found himself laying on his front and doing his best not to shudder as Clark's fingers gently trailed over a long, this scar that ran diagonally across the back of his right shoulder. The Kryptonian was currently sitting astride Bruce rather than straddling his back, much to Bruce's secret disappointment.

" R-Ra's al Gul's daughter Talia got mad at me for once again refusing to join the League of Assassins, so she decided to try and decapitate me. I managed to roll out of the way so that she just grazed my shoulder."

" Why didn't your armor stop the blade completely?" Clark asked curiously as he ran his fingers back up the smoothed over scar tissue.

It was here that Bruce could not help the smirk that turned up the corner of his mouth.

" I wasn't wearing any at the time." He said simply.

Clark's hand paused in its exploring and Bruce glanced over his shoulder to see the corners of Clark's mouth twitching in amusement. He knew what Bruce was implying. However, when Clark noticed that Bruce was looking at him, the humor disappeared from his features as his eyes hardened once again. Bruce barely bit back an undignified yelp as he was effortlessly manhandled around onto his back and straddled once more with Clark looming over him and quietly glaring down at him before lashing out with that inhuman speed of his.

Bruce grunted as an strong, unyielding hand wrapped around his throat and gave a firm, warning squeeze, but not enough to choke. Bruce stared up at Clark and did his best not to just fight tooth and nail. He knew that Clark could end him with just one simple hard squeeze or a flick of his wrists so a lay there are still as he could and focused on keeping his breath calm and even as he focused up at the Kryptonian.

" You poisoned me, then you punched me, kicked me, and you even broke a sink over my head before you pressed your foot into my throat and cut my cheek to make me bleed. Killing me wasn't just some mission to you, I could see it, you enjoyed hurting me, didn't you?" Clark asked quietly.

Bruce felt the searing shame rise up and enshroud him as he forced himself to not look away and speak.

" Yes. It was a power trip bringing a god to heel. I was so wrong Clark and I am so sorry." Bruce said earnestly.

Clark nodded in acknowledgement and loosened his hold on Bruce to where his hand was just resting against the older man's throat as he spoke.

" And now you've relinquished control to me and you think I'll get over what you did to me by doing something similar unto you. An eye for an eye." He stated.

Bruce was about to reply, but Clark shook his head, silencing him. Then Bruce watched as the harshness left Clark's face, replaced by a true weariness that matched what he saw in the mirror most days, in his private moments. It was something that should not have been on the face of someone only thirty-five years old. To Bruce's slight confusion, Clark drew his hand away from his throat and instead gently hooked said hand around the back of the older man's neck and pulled him up. Bruce sat up and looked up at Clark with a questioning gaze, Clark keeping his hold on Bruce as he spoke.

" You said earlier that everything that would happen tonight was for me alone to decide. Well Bruce, I've decided that we've inflicted enough pain on each other."

With that, Clark leaned in towards an visibly stunned Bruce and gently sealed his lips over the older man's in a deep, exploratory kiss. Bruce blinked and then let his eyes fall shut as he began to respond in kind. Unlike the previous kisses they had shared tonight, this kiss was not rough and near bruising in its force, it was intimate, a mark of actual connection between them. When they drew apart, they were both flushed and breathing hard. Bruce stared up at Clark with his pupil blown, he watched as the Kryptonian sat back a little and reached up towards his own shoulders. His curiosity peaked, Bruce watched as Clark's fingers ducked under his cape where it was attached to his shoulders and undid what Bruce assumed were the hidden clasps that kept his cape in place. A few moments later the striking red fabric was gracefully fluttering to the floor and joining Bruce's long forgotten shirt. Before Clark went further, Bruce reached out and grazed his fingers over the "S" symbol emblazoned across Clark's chest, specifically over the place where there was an almost imperceptible warp in the fabric. There had been a large, blood hole torn through the alien fabric at one time, Bruce knew, because he had been the one to witness the nightmarish events that had led to such. Clark didn't say anything or bat Bruce's hand away, waiting for the mortal man to withdraw on his own before he reached up and tugged on his collar. It was then that Bruce watched as a seam suddenly appeared down the center of Clark's suit.

Bruce wanted nothing more than to reach out and pull Clark's now open suit off of him, but like he had said, he wasn't the one in control tonight, Clark was. He reached down and fisted his hands into the sheets and sat patiently, his eyes riveted to Clark as the Kryptonian gripped the edges of the suit on either side of the seam and tugged the garment apart.

 _" Oh my God."_ Bruce thought before his mind well and truly short-circuited as Clark pulled the suit away off his shoulders and revealed the insanely built physique beneath it.

Clark tugged until his upper body was revealed, leaving the suit hanging at his waste. As he stared at Clark, Bruce's eyes inevitably went to the Kryptonian's chest, and the jagged, crescent-shaped scar that now graced the center, standing out against the smattering of dark hair. The haunted quality to Bruce's eyes were not lost on Clark. He reached down and gripped on of Bruce's wrists, bringing the billionaire's hand up and pressing it to the scar.

" It's alright Bruce, it doesn't hurt, just feels a little weird since it and the one on my back are my first and only, and you know how I got them." Clark said with a sad smile.

Bruce reached up with his other hand, wrapping his arm around Clark and seeking out the scar on Clark's back. While the scar on Clark's chest was a crescent shape, the one of Clark's smooth back was a jagged, diagonal line. As he felt along it, Bruce felt Clark shudder softly against him. Bruce surmised that Clark's scars were sensitive, maybe even more so since they were the only one's Clark had ever received in his whole life. Storing this information away, Bruce drew his hand away from the crescent shaped scar on Clark's chest and leaned in, pressing his lips to it and making Clark gasp while his whole body jolted.

With a low groan Clark grabbed Bruce's face and pulled him up into a desperate kiss, plundering the older man's mouth and then surging forward so that Bruce fell back onto the bed and Clark lay on top of him. Bruce groaned against Clark's mouth as the Kryptonian's solid, heavy weight settled over him and pressed him into the king-sized mattress. The feeling of Clark's bare skin against his own only added to the intoxication, sending waves of fire through Bruce's veins.

When they broke apart with a gasp some moments later, Clark didn't miss a beat as he sought out he scar over Bruce's collar bone. Bruce's whole body jolted and arched up against Clark as the billionaire felt Clark's obscenely hot tongue slide across the bumpy scar tissue. But Clark wasn't finished as with a tiny smirk of his own, he then blew on the scar with his subzero breath.

" CLARK!" Bruce yelled as his eyes nearly rolled up into his head at the intoxicating sensation.

Clark didn't wait for Bruce to recover as he sought out the rest of the scars that littered Bruce's front, licking and then chilling each one and nearly driving Bruce mad with ecstasy. Bruce groaned and wreathed beneath Clark, his hands blinding reaching up and clawing at Clark's arms and shoulders. Where human flesh would have reddened and bruised under Bruce's sharp grip, Clark's skin remained pale and unmarred.

Bruce cried out loudly as he was suddenly yanked up onto his knees with such ease, as if he were a silk scarf rather than a man of about 6ft 4' and 215 pounds. Bruce could not marvel at Clark's quiet display of strength for very long as Clark set about gnawing at his throat and neck to his heart content, making Bruce feel like jolts of lightening were radiating through his whole body. Clark trailed his hands down Bruce's back, taking in the feel of the solid, powerful muscles coiling and rippling beneath his palms, all the while leaving all the bruises he wanted on Bruce's neck and throat. Clark kept moving his hands downward until he reached the waistband of the jeans Bruce still had on.

Clark drew back so that he and Bruce were eye to eye, a look of askance on his face. Bruce immediately caught on to what Clark meant with that look, he was asking for permission. It made something in Bruce both swell, and then bleed as he nodded and then watched as Clark reached between them and undid the button and the zipper. A few moments later a pair of dark blue jeans and simple black boxer-briefs were joining the rest of the clothes strewn over the bedroom floor. But the rain of clothing did not stop as first one, than another red boot made from Kryptonian armor fabric fell to the floor with light thuds. Finally, the full suit of alien material with the "S" symbol emblazoned across it was hitting the floor, along with a pair of light gray briefs.

" And here I thought you went commando under that thing." Bruce said lightly as he admired the gloriously naked Kryptonian looming over him.

" You've thought about what I wear under the suit?" Clark asked curiously.

" I was gunning for you so I wanted to know everything I could about you." Bruce explained, before his expression grew quietly sheepish.

" And because even with my ill-intent, I still couldn't help but notice that you are really really good looking guy."

There was a beat of silence, and then Clark let out a loud, startled laugh while his face took on an expression of pure delight. Bruce had enough time to form a small grin before Clark was one him, kissing his breathless and pressing their gloriously naked bodies together. Bruce was expecting Clark to take things all the way and claim his body thoroughly, Bruce was more than willing after all and like he had said earlier, Clark was the one on control. So it took Bruce a little by surprise when Clark kissed a molten hot trail down the length of his body, using his freezing breath yet again to drive him nearly insane with want before he set about torturing the most intimate part of Bruce's body.

Bruce nearly arched clean off the bed as he was surround by this near scalding, perfect heat that took him in deep, gasping harshly with his well-built chest and stomach heaving at the waves of pleasure crashing over him.

" Oh." Bruce breathed as he blinding reached down with his hand, his fingers finding Clark's dark curls. He twined his fingers into the soft locks in an effort to ground himself, and then also felt the lance of guilt as he remembered how he had callously gripped these same curls to hoist an unconscious Clark over his shoulder and then tossed him over the railing of the abandoned building they had been fighting in to land on the rusty pile of old radiators down below.

Bruce returned to the present when he felt eyes on him, and through the haze of pleasure he looked down to see a pair of crystalline blue eyes gazing up at him intensely, all the while their owner did not pause in his ministrations. Bruce forced himself not to look away from Clark's intense gaze, fighting back against the part of him that was forever ashamed of what he had done to Clark. That part of him wanted to apologize to Clark and then go hide in the bathroom, but Bruce quashed it down and instead started carding his fingers gently through the younger man's curls as he spoke.

" You're amazing, you're absolutely amazing. I was wrong about you, I was so wrong about you. So wrong." Bruce said softly with a moan as Clark broke eye contact with him and got more vigorous with his effort.

But just as Bruce was starting to feel himself getting close, Clark abruptly pulled away, leaving Bruce feeling utterly bereft. Before Bruce could fully process what was happening, Clark used his freezing breath and aimed for the part of Bruce he had been so blatantly enjoying.

Bruce's harsh, ragged scream echoed through the house as the intoxicating sensation of Clark's cold breath on him nearly drove him right over the edge. Before he could catch his breath, Bruce let out a startled gasp as he was casually flipped over onto his front and pinned to the bed by a firm hand gripping him back the back of his neck. Bruce took a deep breath and just reveled in the small display of power from Clark.

Clark looked away from the gorgeous man he was pinning down and looked to the nightstand that stood by the bed. Focusing on the stand, Clark used his x-ray vision and looked into its contents, finding the item he wanted. Without letting go of Bruce, Clark reached over him and pulled open the nightstand's top drawer, pulling out a small bottle of lubricant in full view of Bruce.

Bruce felt himself grow breathless as he watched Clark, anticipation of what the younger man would do spreading through his already buzzing body. Taking in a deep, rattling breath, Bruce forced himself to relax and get ready fro whatever Clark had planned.

A few moments later Bruce's loud, ragged scream was echoing through the entire house as Clark used his fingers on him, his fingers that he was _vibrating at super-speed._

 _Several hours later..._

Harsh gasps filled the air as Bruce stared up at the plain, light gray ceiling of his bedroom, well and truly dazed. He lay on his back eagle-spread and with the bedsheets tangled around his legs and his waist. There was a sheen of sweat to his skin as he fought to catch his breath. As Bruce lay there in rapture caused not even from full intercourse but a pair of hands touching the most intimate parts of him in ways he had never experienced before in all his life, Clark slowly came into his line of sight, looming over him. The Kryptonian was sweaty and looking a bit overwhelmed himself. His lower half was covered by the sheets as well as he knelt between Bruce's legs. The pair stared at each other for the longest time, neither of them able to really form words. Calming down a little, Bruce forced his spent body to move with a small groan as he pushed himself up onto his elbows and sought out Clark's lips.

Clark let his eyes flutter shut as Bruce's lips pressed against his own in a gentle, deep kiss, all apprehension gone at the moment as he kissed Bruce back. When they drew away, Bruce stayed close, pressing his lips under Clark's eye, and then along the arch of his cheek, the cheek he had sliced into a year and some months ago. Clark smiled softly and sighed, knowing this was yet another apology. Easily taking all of his weight onto one arm, he reached up with his other and buried his finger's into Bruce's salt and pepper hair. Cupping the back of Bruce's head, Clark pressed a kiss to Bruce's graying temple before levering himself off of the bed and gently pulling Bruce with him. Bruce gave a groan of protest at having to get up, but Clark gently placated him with open-mouthed kissed over his already well bruised neck and shoulders as he half carried, half dragged the older man off to the bathroom, sullied bedsheets and all.

A good twenty minutes later, the bed sheets had been replaced and now Clark was gazing up at the ceiling in thoughtful silence. Laying fully on top of his with his head pillowed on his chest was Bruce, oblivious to the rest of the world in full, deep sleep with Clark's arms wrapped loosely around him. The new sheets were pooled around their waists, and the shimmering light of the lake reflected through the glass walls into the house.

Clark turned his gaze away from the ceiling and looked down at the man currently sleeping on his chest. Clark lightly ran one of his hands over Bruce's shoulder and sighed. For months even the brush of a mere fingers made Clark freeze, for months the truly terrifying alter-ego of the man currently sleeping in his arms had haunted him at night. Now though, Clark found himself unable to get enough of the way Bruce felt against him, the feel of his skin, every scar and every callouss, the way his hair was like silk through his fingers, the scratch of his stubble, and the power coiling just beneath the surface. This was the same man who had a year and some month before savagely beat him, made him feel pain unlike anything he had every felt in his whole life. He hadn't even felt such a thing when he had passed out on Zod's ship. Those same hands that had pummeled him and made him bleed, had clung to him in desperate need and caressed his body with unheard of gentleness tonight.

Tonight for the first time in a long time, he had been in control and had felt it. He had brought Bruce to the heights of pleasure again and again, without even joining their bodies. This same man, his would be killer, had writhed and cried under him in desperate need, completely at _his_ mercy. While that was in and of itself something extraordinary, for Clark what mattered more was that out of everything he could have done tonight once Bruce had told him that he was his to do with as he pleased, instead of breaking bones and tearing flesh, he had stripped away the nightmare Bruce shrouded himself in and reached the man beneath, the man who was sorry for what he had done, the pain he had inflicted, the terrible mistake he had committed. He had done so because Bruce had given up control and allowed him to see.

Clark could have gone on for a long time just thinking about the monumental shift that had happened in his and Bruce's relationship when a sleepy, slightly hoarse voice sounded, abruptly pulling him out of his musings.

" Stop thinking so loud and go to sleep Boy scout." Bruce grumbled, his voice slightly hoarse but his tone leaving no room for argument. He had given up control for a while tonight, but now he was back to bossing Superman around.

Clark felt a wide grin spread across his face before he let out a small sigh and tightened his hold around Bruce as he settled into the pillow beneath his head. Within moments his clear blue eyes were falling shut and he was joining Bruce in sleep. In the morning he would probably have to rush off and be the mild-mannered reporter who's boss was going to chew him up regardless of his miraculous return from the dead, and Bruce would go and be the rich billionaire playboy who secretly guarded Gotham City as its most fearsome Dark Knight. For now though, Clark would just sleep.

Warm and content after so many months of forced loneliness.

 **The End.**


End file.
